Fire in the Forest
by bibblelikeselmo
Summary: A story about Charlie Weasley and his life, with some changes to give him a proper story. All credit to J.K.Rowling.
1. A Romanian Chill

**Fire in the Forest**

A/N: I know Charlie Weasley has some history but I wanted to create his own story, _with _a family and more of a magical history. Also, Norbert arrives a little later in my story. All ownership goes to J. and her Harry Potter world.

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The Brotherhood of Dragon Keepers was secretive to the muggle world, with a dark and cold Romanian forest baring the secret. The start of November brought the winter chill across the east of Europe, but the base for the Brotherhood was well prepared.

Charlie Weasley donned his thick coat; fur trimmed of course, and made his way out of the log cabin, the roar of the dragons waking him up as he walked. It was only this time two years ago when he had started here, meeting all of the team members who dedicated their lives to Dragonology.

Today was a special day at the base, they were gaining a new baby dragon and two new team members, and one would be sharing his cabin with him. His brother, Ron, and two of his friends had requested that the dragon 'Norbert' be snuck out of Hogwarts soon due to the fact that Hagrid, the gamekeeper at the school, could not look after it. Norbert was three months old, with his first hide that would eventually shed to bear the indestructible one which he would keep for the rest of his life.

He walked past the statue of Harvey Ridgebit, the founder of the Romanian sanctuary with his scorched hat which had endured years of burning, and past the baby dragon enclosure before ending up half-way across the camp into the meeting room. It was like a small village, with thirty dragon keepers living here permanently and usually ten or so visitors.

"Weasley!" chirped Regan Picklefoot, a lanky man with a beard that curled near the bottom but was always on fire. He moved past several other men and shook his hand, his mood unusually over-happy. "Our new keepers will be here with the babe very soon! How exciting this is…"

Before Charlie could even reply, he had wandered off in a daze.

Outside, the clouds cleared and a pack of Swedish Short-Snouts curled up in the sun, occasionally blowing smoke out of their nostrils as they breathed. Charlie waved his wand and set up a large fire in the centre of the village, the size of a muggle double-decker bus which would burn all day. Two figures were appearing on the horizon over the trees, and one of them was balancing a cardboard box on their knee carefully.

"They're here!" shouted Charlie, knotting his somewhat long hair into a messy ponytail, just so it wouldn't get gnawed on by the babe. All of the dragon keepers in the village hustled out of the cabins and paddocks quickly, Regan and a younger boy bouncing happily as they awaited the guests. The dragons all roared at once, sensing someone new to the area, this required a few of the men to run off and sort them out.

Within ten minutes of spotting them, they were landing on the muddy ground and walking towards them, the baby dragon screeching a few times as they did. One thing struck many of the men; they were not going to be a brotherhood for much longer. Underneath the hoods of the two new keepers was indeed a woman, Charlie's age easily with a pale face and clear definition in her bones.

Some of the men gasped as they realised, no women wanted to be dragon keepers as it was too dangerous, but one this young? They masked this by pretending it was the baby dragon's noises, but it didn't fool her. The man from the group stepped forward and held out his hand with a smile on his weathered face, although he wasn't much older than Charlie judging by the colour of his hair and how well he acted. Charlie stepped up to him and smiled too, shaking his hand, followed by all of the other men doing the same.

"I am Pedro Fletwock, and this is my companion" he said, ushering her forward "Lysandra Toke, we both come from northern England. I believe this is your dragon," he handed Norbert to Charlie and stepped back. Regan and the boy, along with some of the older men quickly took Charlie's place and began to give them a tour of the village and paddocks.

Charlie looked inside the cardboard box and found a small Norwegian Ridgeback, very fierce and with a razor sharp tail. It kept spitting smoke every few moments but stopped as Charlie took him out of the box, staring straight at it. The dragon made a shrill sound then spat sparks at him before relaxing slightly. Charlie chuckled and picked him up round his stomach before carrying him to the baby paddock, placing him on a small table.

"Hello Norbert." He stared at the dragon for a while longer, occasionally stroking the top of his head before he performed a spell to check it was in good health, developed by dragon keepers. The dragon attempted to jump to his level but failed miserably. "We need to find you a mother, but luckily there is another family who just lost a babe. Will that be okay?" He asked Norbert who made another noise which he took as a good signal.

He headed outside, doing up his coat and talking to the dragon on the way before arriving at the Ridgeback enclosure. The mother Ridgeback, _Vera_ as she had been named on arrival, was out feeding with a keeper so Charlie could sneak Norbert in easily. The other babes were busy feeding on chicken blood and brandy, something which Norbert flew too.

Charlie laughed as he sat on a stump, watching the family slowly accept him, with the time passing quicker than he thought. By the time he left the enclosure, Vera was flying over the hills and it was nearly nightfall.

Charlie walked into the 'feeding hut' which contained three large tables and several smaller ones. He went to the kitchen and prepared some food before heading back to a table near the window, his preferred seat as he could look at all of the dragons. The young boy which trailed Regan, called William, brought Pedro and Lysandra over to his table. He was being introduced as 'a top trainer with amazing talent'. Charlie stood up and shook both their hands again, smiling and automatically getting into conversation with the man.

"Lysandra here was considered the freak in our class, everyone thinking why is a girl involved in dragons-"

"Yes, but I proved them wrong," she said, with a sort of smug smile on her face which made Charlie laugh.

"You did cause some controversy I must say, we've never had a girl here…some of the men got a bit excited I think." They all laughed and for the rest of the night discussed what their specialities were in the field, although they had no idea what tomorrow would bring.


	2. A Head for a Mistake

**TWO**

Charlie woke early, as he always did, but not to the usual sounds. There was shouting outside, followed by the thunderous sounds of roaring and it smelled strongly of ash. He crawled out of bed, noticing that Pedro had already managed to set up all of his things, sleep _and_ leave without Charlie noticing him. He scratched the back of his head, running his fingers through his hair before going outside and finally seeing what was going on.

The ash was the remains of one of the cabins. He ran towards the now-grave of a cabin and stared at it for a moment, a confused and shocked look on his face before Regan distracted him.

"Charlie! We've had a breakout!" he shouted furiously, but looking more panicked than angry. "A Fireball, on the lose! Oh the Ministry are going to have my head for this!" Charlie finally understood.

The dragons were strong enough to get out of their paddocks if they tried, no matter how much magical protection the keepers put on them. Sometimes they realised where they were and tugged on the restrains, but mostly they were calmed. He saw flashes of people running around, some mounting brooms to go and search the nearby mountains.

"It headed west!" shouted a young man, already flying off into the distance. Several other people followed, leaving Charlie to go and get his wand before he started to perform spells to calm the other dragons down.

Lysandra was helping another group of people clearing the remains of a storage cabin, luckily having no people staying in it.

Later in the day, with most of the keepers either searching for the dragon, caring for the larger ones or cleaning up the mess, Charlie sat in the hut which was specifically for talking to the Ministry and keeping them up to date on what was happening, after all, dragons were class XXXXX, or 'wizard killers.' William had informed him that he was to write a long letter to the Ministry of Magic explaining what reports may be coming through the Muggle newspapers of 'giant birds' as they had had a breakout. Apparently, he was also supposed to say the situation was under control and no harm was going to come to anyone from the public.

Charlie nearly laughed as he wrote this, knowing that they would struggle to find the dragon again as they were much faster than broomstick-travel and that they would most likely be hiding in the mountains, deep in Romania.

Sending the letter later in day, Charlie made his way to the Norwegian Ridgeback enclosure, saying hello to Vera and her family before searching for Norbert. He re-fed the entire pack of babes in the family before taking Norbert out, back to the research cabin.

"Hello again Norbert, feeling better today are we?" Norbert snapped and spat smoke at him, Charlie took it as a good sign. He pulled out his wand from his pocket and inspected the dragon, checking for any signs of wounds as baby dragons tended to attack each other…a lot. All he found was a few scrape marks and the odd tooth indentation.

"Oh, you're a girl." He said with some surprise, having just performed a spell that would only effect male dragons, helping them calm their 'inner anger.' "Well I best start calling you Norberta then, how's that?" He heard a small laugh from the doorway and turned around, almost grinning.

"Norberta? That's not a very good girl's name."

"It is for a dragon that's just discovered it's a girl."

"Well, I still think it could have something more…feminine." Lysandra moved closer to the babe and stroked the top of her head slowly, before Norberta spat smoke at her and she took a step back.

"She tends to do that, don't be scared." Charlie smiled to Lysandra before placing the baby dragon back on the table, going to the draw and bringing a bottle of some thick fluorescent blue lotion back. "Want to do it? She'll get used to being handled then." Lysandra nodded to him and took the lotion, getting close to the dragon again. She opened the bottle and sneezed, making Charlie laugh and the dragon spit at them both.

"What's so funny?" she scrunched her nose before rubbing the lotion on the back of Norberta.

"You act just like a…well a girl! Yet you choose to work with dragons?"

"Dragons are fascinating" was all she said, shutting up Charlie and finishing off rubbing the lotion into the dragon. "This will help her loose her first hide, right?"

"Yes, she'll be much stronger once this is gone, she'll have no more injuries from Vera or the other babes. We do this with all the newborns." Lysandra nodded and sighed, taking it all in. She was about to continue the conversation before William walked in, followed by Regan and two older men.

"Weasley, we're taking a trip."

"Who are we?" Charlie asked inquisitively before smiling at all the people in the room.

"Well, myself, and yourself, William and Miss Toke, if she wishes to join us?" Lysandra, once more, just nodded. Regan's strong French accent made it hard for some people to understand him straight away.

"And can I ask sir, where are we planning to go?"

"To the Ministry of Magic of course! They have requested our presence at once, sent word by the Floo Network, which was slightly odd."

Charlie sighed, he knew this would be good in some ways as he had already mentally prepared to take a trip to see his extremely large family, but he knew the Ministry did not like him as he was 'too free' and didn't seem to care about anything but dragons.

Regan cornered Charlie after dinner, taking him into his office.

"This is bad news Weasley; a lose dragon will not go down well with Scrimgeour and his army of followers. They'll tell me…_You-Know-Who_" he whispered his name "will capture it and use it for his own gain!" Charlie shook his head, trying to reassure Regan as he was so fragile in mind, knowing the whole research operation could go to pot in minutes if Regan messed things up. He was a friendly man but didn't know his own limits.

"Regan, it'll be fine. I'll send word to my father that we're on our way…you know Arthur Weasley, Head of the Office for the Detection and Confiscation of Counterfeit Defensive Spells and Protective Objects?" Regan nodded before Charlie continued, "and he'll prep people around Scrimgeour, he's not hated by everyone I think." Charlie tried to think, but shook his head, knowing his father's mad views on Muggles had gotten him into trouble many times before.

Regan took a few breaths and leaned back in his chair before nodding and muttering to himself. "Okay Weasley, you do that before we leave and I'm sure it will all be alright." He stood up, pottering around the desk, still muttering before stopping in his doorway. "By the way Weasley, we leave tomorrow morning. Tell that girl for me…"

Charlie had no time to protest as Regan had already speeded away up the corridor, shouting 'William!' a few times. He sighed and went on the search for Lysandra.


	3. The Waiting Suprise

**THREE**

"The Floo Network opens at ten in the morning, sharp." Regan announced in a very pompous manner, sticking his chest out although he was only five feet tall. Charlie towered over him, often wondering why such a man had gotten into the dragon business when he could be Minister for Magic in some respect. "We shall return at four in the afternoon in two days from now, hopefully still open." He waggled his stubby fingers at the remaining keepers who had come to see them all off.

Regan checked his watch then nodded to Charlie and ushered that they all stand close to him. "See you on the other side." He mumbled before throwing down the grey powder and shouting 'Ministry of Magic!' making him disappear into a mass of bright green flames which quickly died down. William followed him quickly, knowing the network to Romania would close soon. Charlie let the older men go first before getting into the fire with Lysandra, the both of them travelling together as she had never gone via the Floo Network before.

"Speak clearly, otherwise you may end up…well not with the rest of us."

At the same time they both said where they were going and the view of Romania was gone. They both saw several fireplaces on the way, one with a large family all arguing and then another Muggle couple sat watching a box with moving pictures.

Lysandra jumped out of the fireplace as soon as they stopped, only to find themselves in a tiny house opposite a red telephone box. Charlie knew what to do as he had heard his dad tell him about it before.

Regan brushed down his purple velvet suit and stood up straight before coughing and making his way out of the house, followed by everyone else. Regan was already passing out the Ministry of Magic 'M' coins which were needed to use the 'telephone box' for magical purposes. He didn't say a word, a sweat forming over his brow as he placed the coin in the slot and pressed the call button. He disappeared below straight away.

Lysandra watched intently, even standing on her tip toes to watch him until he went completely underground. The two men were next who both disappeared quickly.

Charlie stepped in the box, followed by Lysandra and William.

"Nice and cramped" he muttered to himself, gaining a sort-of dirty look from William but Lysandra couldn't hear. He lifted his arm over both of their heads so he could put the coin in but he asked William to press the call button.

There was a small jolt before they started going down, floating into a giant cave-like room, decked out in green marble tiles with an enormous water fountain in the centre of it all, surrounded by thousands of windows and people moving about everywhere.

When they 'landed' and got out of the box, Regan was already wiping his forehead and telling William to stay quiet, Charlie to tie his hair back (which he did) and for Lysandra to stand with him, to make him seem more formal. She was pulled forward, a look of worry on her face to Charlie but they were forced forwards.

Regan stopped at the reception desk and said his full name and his purpose followed by the names of everyone in the group. The girl simply nodded and finally looked up, her eyes wandering from the range of ages and heights before they fixed upon Charlie.

"A Weasley?" she asked immediately, making him nod with a stiff look on his face, of course they were recognisable due to the red hair. "Arthur's boy?"

"One of many" he replied with a small sigh, kindly asking her to tell them where to go. The receptionist pointed them to the lifts, telling them all to go there and the lift operators would tell them which floor. He gave her a smile and then led the way, not pleasing Regan at all but he accepted.

They clambered into one of the lifts, with the lift guard pulling the lever, shooting them backwards. William sucked in for breath before they were shot sideways and then upwards. Charlie had been to the ministry once before, when he started as a keeper and had to be registered on the Ministry's Dragon Keeper Management list.

When the shutter door opened, Charlie stepped out after Regan who was escorted by a young man, fully suited and holding a notepad with the names of all of them on it. He greeted them and walked briskly towards a large wooden door with the words 'Deputy Minister' on them in an elegant script.

"Are we not seeing Scrimgeour?" Regan asked in a slightly nervous manner. William flanked him with Charlie and Lysandra directly behind him. The older men seemed to have not gotten out of the lift with them.

"You will have to speak to a representative first then you will be seeing the Minister, he is just dealing with a small matter."

The man led them into a small waiting area with a few chairs and a floating tea-tray, offering them drinks.

After waiting for ten minutes, with several bangs and shouts being heard inbetween, an old woman came out of another set of wooden doors, awfully smiley. She asked them what their purpose was at the Ministry, with Regan saying 'business with Scrimgeour.' The woman instantly snapped, losing her happy demeanour and demanding that at all times we refer to him as 'the Minister.' Charlie had to turn away to stop himself laughing.

The lady calmed down and stood up, gesturing them into his office.

Regan entered first with William at his side (who was quietly, under his breath muttering some sort of incantation to keep himself safe) with the other two following close behind.

They soon realised that it was not just Scrimgeour they would be talking too, but another man was present.

Another creature.

A Death Eater waited for them, holding the two cloaks of the men that had been left behind in the lift.

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_A/N: Sorry, there may be a slight drop in my rate of posting chapters as college starts again Monday, and that means (annoyingly), less time to do anything other than work._


	4. Never Trust a Death Eater

A/N: So sorry about this taking so long! Been working and just lost track, apologies!

**FOUR**

Charlie stayed silent as he walked inside, with Lysandra walking close behind him. He could feel her shaking almost. Regan was now sweating a great deal but knew he had to stand up to this creature. He came face-to-face with it (although the Death Eater was much taller than he was) before staring at its eyes through the horribly evil-looking metal masks.

"What have you done with the two members of our party? I demand you tell me at once!" He shouted, trying to sound as big as possible. The Death Eater laughed in a shrill cackle.

"Shh, your friends will be returned in…near perfect condition." He cackled again, his terrifying presence looming over everyone in the room, even Scrimgeour looked a bit nervous. "Consider it a Death Eater promise." He hissed before smiling under the mask, his cheeks rising upwards by plain view.

Regan looked in a fowl mood, knowing that a 'Death Eater promise' probably meant they would come back severely shaken and injured. The Death Eater turned and hissed something towards Scrimgeour and then 'flew' out of the room, Charlie wishing he'd heard what he'd said.

"Well Mr. Dunstforth, I apologise for that…incident." Scrimgeour sat back down, tapping his hand on the desk. Regan looked awfully pale now. Charlie could tell he was desperately wishing they had never come here in the first place, just stayed in Romania.

After offering a cup of Muggle-tea (which Scrimgeour seemed to have a liking for) or Pumpkin Juice to the party, Scrimgeour took a deep breath and stared at Regan, the anger in his eyes becoming more obvious. "This is not good Dunstforth, not good at all. As you can tell, we're already in trouble with…_his_ followers. They may have heard, I'm not sure yet."

Regan's cup was shaking in his hand, the experience from earlier had scared him. Charlie knew for a fact that he had never seen a Death Eater before. Even little William was cowering behind him, not making any eye-contact with the Minister. Charlie took the lead.

"Sir, we know this is a messy situation, but we do have every available keeper out looking for-"

"Not good enough!" Scrimgeour snapped and loudly at that. Charlie stood up straight. Being quite tall, he hoped Scrimgeour would feel slightly threatened; he was only a puppet in Lord Voldemort's game.

"I don't appreciate being shouted at." Charlie said calmly, he could hear Lysandra breathing loudly behind him, she was scared. "We will get the situation under control, the dragon will be found."

"It best be Weasley. Your father's job may be the price if it isn't."

Charlie tensed his fist and growled under his voice, he didn't like threats either. Glaring at the Minister, Charlie decided his opinion had been shared and he would walk out the room quietly. He left without even saying goodbye to anyone.

No sooner than twenty minutes later, Lysandra walked out first, silently and looking awfully pale. William was next, hopping along as fast as possible towards the lifts. Regan could be seen nodding and then walking out of Scrimgeour's office quickly, Scrimgeour himself staying put, watching them as the door closed behind the party.

"I want a word with you Weasley, when we're back."

"It wasn't his fault." Lysandra whispered this nearly, but Regan heard.

"It's none of your business, is it Miss Toke?" Regan snapped back. Charlie shook his head at her as Regan stormed past the both of them but sort-of smiled, he did appreciate it although she would probably get in trouble now.

"Now I've got to go find the other two, where the hell have those damn Death Eaters put them?"

All four of them got into the lift and made their way up to the Atrium, with Regan staying in to go back down to the bottom floor. William stayed silent, for the first time in his life probably, whilst Charlie lead the way out to the line of fireplaces that took them out of the Ministry of Magic. They jumped upwards and ended up in the series of toilets that were the worker's entrance. The three of them quickly made their way out into the busy London, surrounded by Muggles.

"Come on, we're going to the Leaky Cauldron" Charlie muttered, leading them all across the hectic street and down a small alleyway. Lysandra and William walked silently behind him but very closely until they sat down inside the pub, Charlie ordering them three Butterbeers. A lot of things were going through his mind. He knew he shouldn't have made Regan look bad as he controlled his job, his life, but Regan was cowering away from saying anything.

"Regan will forgive you" Lysandra chirped up, Charlie only paying attention near the end of those words.

"He won't, he's the boss. I shouldn't have said anything." He hung his head and sighed, then lifted it back up when he felt Lysandra's hand on top of his. He smiled slightly.

William looked towards the door. "Will he know we're here?" He asked nervously.

"There aren't many places a wizard can go nowadays in London, he'll know." William fell silent afterwards.

Regan returned an hour later, looking shaken but with the two men behind him. They both had several cuts on their faces and their robes were smoke-coloured. Charlie didn't even want to ask.

"Weasley! Over here, now!" Regan barked as Charlie stood up, making his way past the two men. "We have to go now; the Floo Network only stays open for another twenty minutes. And you, you are in big trouble. Don't you realise how you made me look? Scrimgeour probably thinks I'm an imbecile who can't keep control of some dragons _and_ his workers!" Regan 'huffed' and stormed past him, signalling all of the others to follow him. He nodded to the barmaid who smiled, looking slightly concerned before they all made their way out of the Leaky Cauldron.

They went into the house they had come in from, only to find that a Ministry official and yet another Death Eater were waiting for them. Regan didn't make eye contact, he took William under his wing and they burst into green flames, disappearing back to Romania.

"I warn you Weasley, one more scrap up, and _he _will find out. We could really use a dragon or two." The Death Eater, without a mask, smirked at him as him and Lysandra clambered into the fireplace. The Ministry official looked scared as they picked up the powder.

"Have fun" The Death Eater hissed, Charlie seeing a flash of light in his eyes before they burst into flames too.

He had never been more glad to be back in Romania.


End file.
